So you want to be an implant dentist? What you should look for, to find the right course for you
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 11th August 2022
If you’re considering training to be an implant dentist – and if this isn’t in your career plan, it really is the opportunity of a lifetime – you’ll know the huge number of postgraduate courses that are out there. But where to find the right one for you, and what benefits to starting early on your learning journey?
As a novice dentist, you’ll have spent the first few years in practice becoming brilliant at the basics. As an implant dentist, you’ll be building on this foundation, so you can help more patients comprehensively, and give them the whole picture. You’ll also improve your core knowledge, your diagnostic treatment planning and ability to communicate effectively. You’ll develop surgical and restorative skills and learn how to motivate a team – the team that you’ll need behind you to deliver stable and beautiful treatments. Ultimately, you’ll become an even better dentist, an exceptional clinician who can offer a wide range of treatments that people want and need and that will raise standards of oral health.
The start of lifelong learning
When choosing a postgraduate programme, understand that this is the start of lifelong learning. Even the most eminent and experienced implant dentists still take courses, watch webinars and attend events to see the latest innovations in materials. Don’t look for shortcuts; this is about establishing the pillars of your surgical career, which will grow alongside your confidence, allowing you to safely take on more complex cases. Similarly, don’t base your decision on price alone and consider ‘value’ as well as cost. A programme that is more expensive than another could be offering added value, things like instructors with first-class pedigree, guest speakers and better teaching facilities.
Look at courses that fit in with your lifestyle – how long it is, will the training be weekly or monthly, for example. If runs over a number of weekends, then this solves the problem of finding one that is ideal for you, but not located near where you work. Ensure you check the level of experience required, as you want to be on the same page with the rest of your cohort and be ready to take the next step when the course ends. Also, consider what kind of support you have back in your practice – does it offer implants? Is there a team in place to help you deliver quality treatment once you complete your training, or will your colleagues need training?
A postgraduate course in implant dentistry must have a substantial hands-on element, with all lecture content backed up by practical skills development, including opportunities for live surgery. There should be face-to-face teaching, and individual one-to-ones for each student. Every brilliant, successful dentist will have mentors throughout their career, and training should connect you with one. This mentor will be key to your ongoing personal as well as professional development, helping you to plan and review your early cases, acting a safety net to establish how you’re going to meet each patient’s specific needs.
The training you choose must help you find clarity in your future. Another element is the course clinical lead. Do your research to ensure that their views and priorities align with yours. Are they still placing implants as well as teaching, and are they an advocate of lifelong learning? You want to feel part of a genuine, supportive community from the very first day, and that you’ll be making friends for life.
The One to One Implant Education offers fully accredited postgraduate training in London’s west end, with a significant portion of the teaching time dedicated to live surgery, giving you that hands-on element, alongside evidence-based theory and technique. The teaching team includes some of the leading lights in implant dentistry, alongside international speakers to enrich the learning. You will gain the skills to become a safe and confident implant dentist and get the best start to a lifelong journey.
The demand for dental implant treatments is increasing, worldwide, as patients appreciate them as a preferred alternative to removable dentures and prostheses. If you learn how to place and restore dental implants, you will be able to take more referrals and bring in a new revenue stream in a competitive market. But you will also find a level of fulfilment that you often get in others areas of dentistry. Being able to rehabilitate patients, and restore their sense of self – these are ongoing benefits whether you’ve just placed your first dental implant, or your 1000th. Embark on postgraduate training in implant dentistry – and find the right course – and you will reap rewards from day one.
To reserve your place or to find out more, please visit
https://121implanteducation.co.uk or call 020 7486 0000.
Author bio:
Dr Fazeela Khan-Osborne is the founding clinician of the FACE dental implant multi-disciplinary team for the One To One Dental Clinic based on Harley Street, London. She has always had a passion and special interest in implant dentistry, particularly in surgical and restorative full arch rehabilitation of the maxilla. She has been involved in developing treatment modalities for peri-implantitis within clinical practice.
Dr Khan-Osborne is also the Founding Course Lead for the One To One Education Programme, now in its 20th year. As a former Lead Tutor on the Diploma in Implant Dentistry course at the Royal College of Surgeons (England), she lectures worldwide on implant dentistry and is an active full member of the Association of Dental Implantology, the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry and the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.
